EDITORIAL
There is a saying, you are what you eat and it is literally true. That saying is rooted in the principle that if you eat healthy foods you will be healthy, and if you eat unhealthy foods you will be unhealthy, because we do not eat just for the sake of it, but for sustenance. Therefore, when we fail to provide the nourishment needed, we will eventually get sick.
That is a sad fact that many of us Barbadians face today, where many persons are choosing unhealthy food options because of their ready availability and cheapness. In many respects this has contributed to the growing incidence of obesity in Barbados. Let us make it clear that this is not a problem only for Barbados, but one that countries across the world are grappling with. Obesity figures world-wide are on the rise and here in Barbados, it was estimated two years ago that as much as 23.2 per cent of the adult population is obese.
At the root of our obesity problem is our sedentary lifestyles coupled with the consumption of greasy fast foods and drinks loaded with sugar. This is not good enough, and Barbadians must be challenged to take better care of their health and bodies. We cannot afford to turn a blind eye to this problem because unless we take steps to put the brakes on it, it will spiral out of control putting additional burden on the State to provide healthcare.
However, getting adults to change their eating patterns may be difficult. While we are not suggesting that some messages should not be targeted at them, we feel that going forward more focus should be placed on children, which if done right, could result in a domino effect for the society in general. In endeavouring to do that, given the age we now live in, social media and mobile apps can be put to use to provide healthy eating tips and recipes to bring about the needed change.
We feel too that pressure must be placed on the private sector to do better by our people. In this country, few food establishments, whether fast food restaurants or fine dining, tell persons exactly what they are consuming. This lack of information relative to the calories and quantities of salt and sugar contained in these foods is unacceptable. Perhaps it is time that we look at legislation, as the United States, parts of Australia and Canada have done, where calorie counts are displayed on menus.
What’s worse, in this country where diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and stroke are featured prominently in our health statistics, we have many products manufactured right here in Barbados and many more that are imported, and nowhere on the packaging can nutritional labelling be found. Nowhere on the packaging can you find what the serving size is, how many calories it contains and what is the fat, salt, sugar or cholesterol content. It is not there because it is still not mandatory. Yet, we have health practitioners telling us we need to watch what we eat, but we have no way of knowing the nutritional value of a lot of what we consume.
We think this is an area that the new Government can look at, and rather than utilising moral suasion to get manufacturers on board, legislate it, so that nutritional labels that are easy to see and read, are as routine as including the ingredient lists on food packages. Additionally, rather than putting high taxes on sugary drinks, or high salt foods for example, why not remove the taxes on the healthier alternatives? If persons can see that eating healthy will not literally burn a hole in their pocket, they may actually see the long term benefits and get on board.